From our seminary: It's okay to be human

BY ALEX MONSETH

A wise friend recently asked me how seminary was going. I responded that it was going well, but I was wrestling with numerous theological topics that were difficult to resolve in my mind. After further elaborating my difficulties, she responded, “That tension is good to wrestle with. But it’s also good to realize we can’t know it all. We’re not God, and it’s okay to just be a human being.”

What does it mean to be Lutheran and why does it matter? My friend’s answer relates well to that very question. We are not God, and it is okay to be human. At the very core of Lutheran doctrine is a realization that God’s Word has made certain things abundantly clear, while others remain a shrouded mystery. This has been a great encouragement to me early in ministry.

To be Lutheran means to be clear, loud, and proud of the things that Scripture makes clear. We know that God’s Word is completely true and creates life and change (Hebrews 4:12). We know Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinful mankind (I Timothy 1:15). We know the only way to be restored in relationship with God is through faith in His Son Jesus (John 14:6). We know Christ is coming again to raise believers from the grave (I Corinthians 6:14). The list of clarity continues and strengthens our faith. To be Lutheran means that we clearly articulate the things that Scripture clearly shows us. We are loud and proud of them like fans sharing the final score of a game after their team has won.

To be Lutheran also means we let tensions remain tensions when Scripture itself does not resolve them. We know we serve a fully sovereign God who desires all men to be saved (I Timothy 2:3-4) and has the power to create faith in the heart of sinful man (Ephesians 2:8-9). We know that some are not saved and reject God, and thus are judged eternally (Matthew 13:42). Is the Lord at fault for this? Our rational minds may war within us over that tension. As Lutherans, we let the tension remain as the Word of God proclaims it rather than try to solve the mystery. Luther himself confessed his despair over this seeming injustice in the sovereignty of God, and yet his trust in the Lord remained.

This humble acknowledgment of the mysteries can draw us to praise as it did the apostle Paul when he described the mysteries of God in Romans 11:33-36, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Letting the tensions remain as they are releases the Church to focus on the things that are clear in this life which lead us to eternity. When functioning in a healthly way, the Lutheran church preaches the stern law of the Lord which leads to repentance and sweet trust in the gospel of Christ. The Lutheran church preaches pure justification by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone. The Lutheran church seeks to share that grace with all who would believe, from the oldest to the youngest.

There is a great sense of humility within many in our Lutheran church body that is beautiful and must be protected and preserved. The pressure to be able to provide an answer to anything and everything can feel overwhelming. Yet it isn’t a pressure which we should have to bear. We can meekly respond to the cloudy debates of theology with a simple, “I don’t know. Scripture doesn’t clearly say.”

As the great Protestant theologian Karl Barth studied the depths of theology, he was once asked what the most profound theological thought that had ever entered his mind was. After a brief moment of reflection, Barth replied, “The most profound thought I have ever known is the simple truth: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

We don’t have to have all the answers to all the difficult questions, for God simply requires us to have simply an answer for the hope that is within us: Christ and Him crucified. Have you found this comforting as I have during a time of deep theological study?

As my friend stated, it is okay to be human.

Monseth is a first-year student at the Free Lutheran Seminary. This piece was written for “Basic Principles of Theology/ Doctrine of the Word,” taught by Dr. Nathan Olson.